PHP and MySQL Web Development introduces readers (who are assumed to have little or no experience with the title subjects) to PHP and MySQL for the purpose of creating dynamic Internet sites. It teaches the same skills as introductory Active Server Pages (ASP) and ColdFusion books--technologies which address the same niche.

Authors Luke Welling and Laura Thomson's technique aims to get readers going on their own projects as soon as possible. They present easily digestible sections on specific technical processes--"Accessing Array Contents" and "Using Encryption with PHP" are two examples. Each section centres on a sample program that strips the task at hand down to its essentials, enabling the reader to fit the process into his or her own solutions as required. Tables that list options and other nuggets of reference material appear as well, but the many examples and the authors' commentary on them take centre stage.

For reference material on MySQL, have a look at Paul DuBois's MySQL. On the PHP side, Web Application Development with PHP4 is excellent. --David Wall

Topics covered:

• The MySQL Database Server (for both Unix and Windows)
• Accessing MySQL Databases Through PHP Scripting (the letters don't really stand for anything)
• Database Creation and Modification
• PHP Tricks in Order of Increasing Complexity--everything from basic SQL queries to secure transactions for commerce
• Authentication
• Network Connectivity
• Session Management
• Content Customisation

Excellent, 08 Nov 2008
I bought this to learn from scratch PHP. It's an excellent book and has brillient examples. I had a working web site up and running within a week including security and personalisation options.

If you want a PHP based web site and have just a bit of HTML knowledge then you'll not get a better book then this to help you.

Highly reccomended primer, 25 Jul 2007
The first thing to note about this book is it's fantastic readability.

I have an object-oriented development background and wanted a book to get me started in PHP and MySQL for a large scale web site I am developing. I picked a copy of this book off the shelf in a bookshop in Cornwall got on the train and by the time I arrived in Suffolk I had devoured the first 200 or so pages.

I have found it to be an exceptionally useful book, clearly explaining many aspects of web development and how to implement them using the powerful combo of PHP & MySQL. I have already recommended it to three other people, who having no previous experience in the subject matter are starting to create useful work.

I would say that to a complete newbie it might be a second book but once you have a basic knowledge and understanding of web development and object-oriented development then this book will catapult yo to the next level and beyond.

A fantastic learning aid and a great reference tool too, 30 Apr 2006
"PHP and MySQL Web Development, 3rd Edition" is a a beast of a book, weighing in at a hefty 960 pages and covering everything from the very basics to database design & creation, web services, security and XML and beyond.

It's thoughtfully written, with many code examples and very well designed and explains everything you need to know in detail.

A fantastic learning aid and a great reference tool too. It includes a CD-ROM which contains all the code examples as well as a PDF of the entire book. It's sometimes useful to have the PDF open on the side of the screen and learn by editing and creating code in your favourite code editor at the same time.

Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in learning PHP.

Fantastic book, 23 Jan 2006
I've started my own web design company. This book really helped me when I decided I needed to learn php and mysql. Good for the beginner and still for those experienced with php. I still find it useful now. My advice is if you want to buy one book on this subject then this is the one.

Excellent, so much useful code, 17 Jun 2005
This is an extremely well written book, with an abundance of useful code that can be modified to suit all sorts of projects. I am new to PHP and MySQL and this book has served as an excellent introduction. It guides you through building all sorts of web based applications step by step and explains the code clearly. It has been the most useful and accessible computer book I have ever bought. I would have been lost without it.

Excellent, 08 Nov 2008
I bought this to learn from scratch PHP. It's an excellent book and has brillient examples. I had a working web site up and running within a week including security and personalisation options.

If you want a PHP based web site and have just a bit of HTML knowledge then you'll not get a better book then this to help you.

Highly reccomended primer, 25 Jul 2007
The first thing to note about this book is it's fantastic readability.

I have an object-oriented development background and wanted a book to get me started in PHP and MySQL for a large scale web site I am developing. I picked a copy of this book off the shelf in a bookshop in Cornwall got on the train and by the time I arrived in Suffolk I had devoured the first 200 or so pages.

I have found it to be an exceptionally useful book, clearly explaining many aspects of web development and how to implement them using the powerful combo of PHP & MySQL. I have already recommended it to three other people, who having no previous experience in the subject matter are starting to create useful work.

I would say that to a complete newbie it might be a second book but once you have a basic knowledge and understanding of web development and object-oriented development then this book will catapult yo to the next level and beyond.

A fantastic learning aid and a great reference tool too, 30 Apr 2006
"PHP and MySQL Web Development, 3rd Edition" is a a beast of a book, weighing in at a hefty 960 pages and covering everything from the very basics to database design & creation, web services, security and XML and beyond.

It's thoughtfully written, with many code examples and very well designed and explains everything you need to know in detail.

A fantastic learning aid and a great reference tool too. It includes a CD-ROM which contains all the code examples as well as a PDF of the entire book. It's sometimes useful to have the PDF open on the side of the screen and learn by editing and creating code in your favourite code editor at the same time.

Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in learning PHP.

Fantastic book, 23 Jan 2006
I've started my own web design company. This book really helped me when I decided I needed to learn php and mysql. Good for the beginner and still for those experienced with php. I still find it useful now. My advice is if you want to buy one book on this subject then this is the one.

Excellent, so much useful code, 17 Jun 2005
This is an extremely well written book, with an abundance of useful code that can be modified to suit all sorts of projects. I am new to PHP and MySQL and this book has served as an excellent introduction. It guides you through building all sorts of web based applications step by step and explains the code clearly. It has been the most useful and accessible computer book I have ever bought. I would have been lost without it.

A great introduction, 31 Dec 2008
As someone who has developed "shop front" websites since the late 90s, but who never needed to take it a stage further until the last 18 months, I needed a fast, accessible introduction to both PHP and MySQL in order to build a dynamic, search-driven website for my company - fast.

If you know enough HTML/CSS to knock up a brochure-style site, and can plug in a bit of Javascript, get a form to work, and put the whole thing live with a hosting company, this book will take you by the hand and get you right up to speed with the theory and practise of building your first dynamic site, including keeping it secure.

Larry Ullman employs some pretty nifty and subtle techniques in his method of teaching, and I guarantee that you'll find yourself using this as much as a reference as anything else after you've worked through it from cover to cover as advised.

While his method of printing the code in full then going through it piece by piece may irk those who bemoan the waste of paper or feel patronised by such a steady approach, I loved it because you get the chance to type the code in and try and work out what's going on for yourself before having it explained to you. This is a great way of learning and challenges you to understand what you're typing rather than just doing it by rote.

There is no object-oriented programming in here, no real depth to the MySQL/SQL part, and nothing about "mashups", web services etc, and you're definitely going to want to follow on with more learning on these themes (I also have PHP 5 Advanced by the same author, which covers the PHP parts of these topics), but there is an awful lot of learning to do before you can move on to such subjects, and this book packs it all in clearly and usefully.

By the way, PHP 6 is not released as I write this, but there is little difference between PHP 5 and 6 from the point of view of this book - the Unicode chapter is maybe one to skip from that point of view, but it's a small point. Otherwise, if you fall in to the category I outlined earlier, I'd thoroughly recommend this book.

A head of the game, 26 Sep 2008
This book is a head of the game, it will teach you the fundamentals of php6 and it tells you when the code is only for php6 (and that php5 code won't work). The good thing about this book is that it teaches you how php and mysql dance together. Don't miss this book, get it while it is still new. Even if you don't know much about mysql this book has an introduction chapter to mysql. I highly recommend this book to all levels except those who are super advanced programmers.

Whoever formatted this book needs to be shot., 15 Sep 2008
This is the worst technical book I have ever attempted to read. Not because of its content, which may or may not be fine, but because of its formatting.

I don't know whether I have a newer edition to everybody else but my copy is formatted in two narrow columns per page, instead of the usual one column.

This makes listings look ridiculous. Lines of code which should fit on one line are instead splayed over 3 or 4 lines.

In one particularly bad example, the page layout went as follows:

Column 1: standard text. Then mid way down column 1 a listing starts. The listing continues to the end of column 1 then goes to the next page, where it goes down column 1 and column 2. You now have to go back two pages to pick up on the standard text, which continued on column 2 of the first page.

The content of this book may well be excellent, I couldn't really say, but its presentation is awful.

Excellent primer for PHP MySQL, 03 Sep 2008
This is an excellent starter for learning how to use PHP/ MySQL.

It goes along at a fair pace, and may be too fast if you don't have previous HTML and programming experience. The separate PHP for the World Wide Web: Visual Quickstart Guide (Visual QuickStart Guides)and MySQL: Visual Quickstart Guide (Visual QuickStart Guides)books in this series take this a bit more slowly, so if you're struggling they might be a good place to look.

Otherwise this will quickly introduce you to the concepts and use of both products. I'm still using this when I do some PHP programming, and other members of my team are also using it. It's excellent and the code is all available for download which avoids either losing/ scratching the CD or lots of typing.

The install Appendix A is worth the money alone, as I've used it to install both PHP and MySQL on Windows servers and my Mac at home. It points to easy installs on the web for the Mac.

My only gripe is that the layout is difficult to follow and it was hard to work out what the projects were actually doing, a little more explanation here might be useful.

Otherwise excellent, recommended particularly as PHP/ MySQL are free leaving you with some spare cash to buy this!

excellent communicator, 29 Aug 2008
I bought this book at the same time as 2 others on similar topics. I've hardly used the other 2. This book is well-written, with useful examples and the author has explained the sample code line-by-line... a real help when trying to amend one of his examples to produce something for your own purposes. As a teacher with some experience of HTML/ VB / ASP.NET I found this book really easy to follow.

There are a few very minor typos in the text (not surprising, given the number of pages), but if you visit the author's website there's a full list of corrections. It took me about 5 mins to go through and correct them, so it didn't really reduce the effectiveness of the book.

One feature I've really found useful... there are occasional little tables of other functions that do similar things. There isn't space in the book to describe them all in detail, but knowing the name of a fucntion makes it really easy to find out more using your favourite search engine.

Strongly recommended.

I also boughtHow to Do Everything with PHP and MySQL (How to Do Everything) (which is absolutely useless) and Mysql Crash Course (Sams Teach Yourself) (which is just about OK as a reference, but has awful page layout that makes it really hard to read). This book was far better than either of those.

Excellent, 08 Nov 2008
I bought this to learn from scratch PHP. It's an excellent book and has brillient examples. I had a working web site up and running within a week including security and personalisation options.

If you want a PHP based web site and have just a bit of HTML knowledge then you'll not get a better book then this to help you.

Highly reccomended primer, 25 Jul 2007
The first thing to note about this book is it's fantastic readability.

I have an object-oriented development background and wanted a book to get me started in PHP and MySQL for a large scale web site I am developing. I picked a copy of this book off the shelf in a bookshop in Cornwall got on the train and by the time I arrived in Suffolk I had devoured the first 200 or so pages.

I have found it to be an exceptionally useful book, clearly explaining many aspects of web development and how to implement them using the powerful combo of PHP & MySQL. I have already recommended it to three other people, who having no previous experience in the subject matter are starting to create useful work.

I would say that to a complete newbie it might be a second book but once you have a basic knowledge and understanding of web development and object-oriented development then this book will catapult yo to the next level and beyond.

A fantastic learning aid and a great reference tool too, 30 Apr 2006
"PHP and MySQL Web Development, 3rd Edition" is a a beast of a book, weighing in at a hefty 960 pages and covering everything from the very basics to database design & creation, web services, security and XML and beyond.

It's thoughtfully written, with many code examples and very well designed and explains everything you need to know in detail.

A fantastic learning aid and a great reference tool too. It includes a CD-ROM which contains all the code examples as well as a PDF of the entire book. It's sometimes useful to have the PDF open on the side of the screen and learn by editing and creating code in your favourite code editor at the same time.

Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in learning PHP.

Fantastic book, 23 Jan 2006
I've started my own web design company. This book really helped me when I decided I needed to learn php and mysql. Good for the beginner and still for those experienced with php. I still find it useful now. My advice is if you want to buy one book on this subject then this is the one.

Excellent, so much useful code, 17 Jun 2005
This is an extremely well written book, with an abundance of useful code that can be modified to suit all sorts of projects. I am new to PHP and MySQL and this book has served as an excellent introduction. It guides you through building all sorts of web based applications step by step and explains the code clearly. It has been the most useful and accessible computer book I have ever bought. I would have been lost without it.

A great introduction, 31 Dec 2008
As someone who has developed "shop front" websites since the late 90s, but who never needed to take it a stage further until the last 18 months, I needed a fast, accessible introduction to both PHP and MySQL in order to build a dynamic, search-driven website for my company - fast.

If you know enough HTML/CSS to knock up a brochure-style site, and can plug in a bit of Javascript, get a form to work, and put the whole thing live with a hosting company, this book will take you by the hand and get you right up to speed with the theory and practise of building your first dynamic site, including keeping it secure.

Larry Ullman employs some pretty nifty and subtle techniques in his method of teaching, and I guarantee that you'll find yourself using this as much as a reference as anything else after you've worked through it from cover to cover as advised.

While his method of printing the code in full then going through it piece by piece may irk those who bemoan the waste of paper or feel patronised by such a steady approach, I loved it because you get the chance to type the code in and try and work out what's going on for yourself before having it explained to you. This is a great way of learning and challenges you to understand what you're typing rather than just doing it by rote.

There is no object-oriented programming in here, no real depth to the MySQL/SQL part, and nothing about "mashups", web services etc, and you're definitely going to want to follow on with more learning on these themes (I also have PHP 5 Advanced by the same author, which covers the PHP parts of these topics), but there is an awful lot of learning to do before you can move on to such subjects, and this book packs it all in clearly and usefully.

By the way, PHP 6 is not released as I write this, but there is little difference between PHP 5 and 6 from the point of view of this book - the Unicode chapter is maybe one to skip from that point of view, but it's a small point. Otherwise, if you fall in to the category I outlined earlier, I'd thoroughly recommend this book.

A head of the game, 26 Sep 2008
This book is a head of the game, it will teach you the fundamentals of php6 and it tells you when the code is only for php6 (and that php5 code won't work). The good thing about this book is that it teaches you how php and mysql dance together. Don't miss this book, get it while it is still new. Even if you don't know much about mysql this book has an introduction chapter to mysql. I highly recommend this book to all levels except those who are super advanced programmers.

Whoever formatted this book needs to be shot., 15 Sep 2008
This is the worst technical book I have ever attempted to read. Not because of its content, which may or may not be fine, but because of its formatting.

I don't know whether I have a newer edition to everybody else but my copy is formatted in two narrow columns per page, instead of the usual one column.

This makes listings look ridiculous. Lines of code which should fit on one line are instead splayed over 3 or 4 lines.

In one particularly bad example, the page layout went as follows:

Column 1: standard text. Then mid way down column 1 a listing starts. The listing continues to the end of column 1 then goes to the next page, where it goes down column 1 and column 2. You now have to go back two pages to pick up on the standard text, which continued on column 2 of the first page.

The content of this book may well be excellent, I couldn't really say, but its presentation is awful.

Excellent primer for PHP MySQL, 03 Sep 2008
This is an excellent starter for learning how to use PHP/ MySQL.

It goes along at a fair pace, and may be too fast if you don't have previous HTML and programming experience. The separate PHP for the World Wide Web: Visual Quickstart Guide (Visual QuickStart Guides)and MySQL: Visual Quickstart Guide (Visual QuickStart Guides)books in this series take this a bit more slowly, so if you're struggling they might be a good place to look.

Otherwise this will quickly introduce you to the concepts and use of both products. I'm still using this when I do some PHP programming, and other members of my team are also using it. It's excellent and the code is all available for download which avoids either losing/ scratching the CD or lots of typing.

The install Appendix A is worth the money alone, as I've used it to install both PHP and MySQL on Windows servers and my Mac at home. It points to easy installs on the web for the Mac.

My only gripe is that the layout is difficult to follow and it was hard to work out what the projects were actually doing, a little more explanation here might be useful.

Otherwise excellent, recommended particularly as PHP/ MySQL are free leaving you with some spare cash to buy this!

excellent communicator, 29 Aug 2008
I bought this book at the same time as 2 others on similar topics. I've hardly used the other 2. This book is well-written, with useful examples and the author has explained the sample code line-by-line... a real help when trying to amend one of his examples to produce something for your own purposes. As a teacher with some experience of HTML/ VB / ASP.NET I found this book really easy to follow.

There are a few very minor typos in the text (not surprising, given the number of pages), but if you visit the author's website there's a full list of corrections. It took me about 5 mins to go through and correct them, so it didn't really reduce the effectiveness of the book.

One feature I've really found useful... there are occasional little tables of other functions that do similar things. There isn't space in the book to describe them all in detail, but knowing the name of a fucntion makes it really easy to find out more using your favourite search engine.

Strongly recommended.

I also boughtHow to Do Everything with PHP and MySQL (How to Do Everything) (which is absolutely useless) and Mysql Crash Course (Sams Teach Yourself) (which is just about OK as a reference, but has awful page layout that makes it really hard to read). This book was far better than either of those.

best programming book i have every red, 17 Dec 2008
so simple, each chapter really dose take 10 min! can't believe the amount time i have wasted trying hack code together from web forums and write crazy php when i could just read this book years ago!

Great little book, 12 Jun 2008
I bought this book because I am a programmer and need to interact with SQL on a daily basis. However...I do not want to know the fine grain details about database management systems. This is a great little book. It is very easy to read and met my needs perfectly. The samples are all easily achievable in 10 minutes, just like it says on the cover. This makes them very easy to scan over for a refresher when you are trying to work out a solution to a problem. It does not go into great details on the more advanced topics, however it does offer a primer on some of them such as transactions and cursors. Overall I would have no hesitation in recommending this book. It won't make you a SQL pro...but it will definitely make you more comfortable in common situations using this query language.

Perfect for beginners, 19 Apr 2008
This is the best book I have seen for people learning SQL from scratch. It takes you through the basics very quickly without assuming prior knowledge. Recommended for anyone with little or no prior SQL experience. You may want a basic SQL reference book to complement it.

You are better off with online tutorials, 27 Jan 2008
I recently wrote a simple database application for a hobby use. I have previous experience with SQL, but I wanted a handy reference to remind me of the basics. Time and time again I found this book useless, and resorted to an online search. I found the organisation of the book odd. If you want to create a simple application to learn with, you have to start from the back, as he tells you how to create a database and tables at the end.

Good Basic Introduction, 10 Dec 2007
This book is a great place to start for SQL. It tells you pretty much everything you are going to need to know for basic database usage. The later chapters on more advanced features such as triggers and stored procedures aren't massively useful as they don't go into enough depth but the author does say that they are only really intended to give you an idea of what you can do, not how to do it.

This book isn't going to teach you everything you need to know about SQL but it will give you the basics quickly and painlessly.

Excellent, 08 Nov 2008
I bought this to learn from scratch PHP. It's an excellent book and has brillient examples. I had a working web site up and running within a week including security and personalisation options.

If you want a PHP based web site and have just a bit of HTML knowledge then you'll not get a better book then this to help you.

Highly reccomended primer, 25 Jul 2007
The first thing to note about this book is it's fantastic readability.

I have an object-oriented development background and wanted a book to get me started in PHP and MySQL for a large scale web site I am developing. I picked a copy of this book off the shelf in a bookshop in Cornwall got on the train and by the time I arrived in Suffolk I had devoured the first 200 or so pages.

I have found it to be an exceptionally useful book, clearly explaining many aspects of web development and how to implement them using the powerful combo of PHP & MySQL. I have already recommended it to three other people, who having no previous experience in the subject matter are starting to create useful work.

I would say that to a complete newbie it might be a second book but once you have a basic knowledge and understanding of web development and object-oriented development then this book will catapult yo to the next level and beyond.

A fantastic learning aid and a great reference tool too, 30 Apr 2006
"PHP and MySQL Web Development, 3rd Edition" is a a beast of a book, weighing in at a hefty 960 pages and covering everything from the very basics to database design & creation, web services, security and XML and beyond.

It's thoughtfully written, with many code examples and very well designed and explains everything you need to know in detail.

A fantastic learning aid and a great reference tool too. It includes a CD-ROM which contains all the code examples as well as a PDF of the entire book. It's sometimes useful to have the PDF open on the side of the screen and learn by editing and creating code in your favourite code editor at the same time.

Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in learning PHP.

Fantastic book, 23 Jan 2006
I've started my own web design company. This book really helped me when I decided I needed to learn php and mysql. Good for the beginner and still for those experienced with php. I still find it useful now. My advice is if you want to buy one book on this subject then this is the one.

Excellent, so much useful code, 17 Jun 2005
This is an extremely well written book, with an abundance of useful code that can be modified to suit all sorts of projects. I am new to PHP and MySQL and this book has served as an excellent introduction. It guides you through building all sorts of web based applications step by step and explains the code clearly. It has been the most useful and accessible computer book I have ever bought. I would have been lost without it.

A great introduction, 31 Dec 2008
As someone who has developed "shop front" websites since the late 90s, but who never needed to take it a stage further until the last 18 months, I needed a fast, accessible introduction to both PHP and MySQL in order to build a dynamic, search-driven website for my company - fast.

If you know enough HTML/CSS to knock up a brochure-style site, and can plug in a bit of Javascript, get a form to work, and put the whole thing live with a hosting company, this book will take you by the hand and get you right up to speed with the theory and practise of building your first dynamic site, including keeping it secure.

Larry Ullman employs some pretty nifty and subtle techniques in his method of teaching, and I guarantee that you'll find yourself using this as much as a reference as anything else after you've worked through it from cover to cover as advised.

While his method of printing the code in full then going through it piece by piece may irk those who bemoan the waste of paper or feel patronised by such a steady approach, I loved it because you get the chance to type the code in and try and work out what's going on for yourself before having it explained to you. This is a great way of learning and challenges you to understand what you're typing rather than just doing it by rote.

There is no object-oriented programming in here, no real depth to the MySQL/SQL part, and nothing about "mashups", web services etc, and you're definitely going to want to follow on with more learning on these themes (I also have PHP 5 Advanced by the same author, which covers the PHP parts of these topics), but there is an awful lot of learning to do before you can move on to such subjects, and this book packs it all in clearly and usefully.

By the way, PHP 6 is not released as I write this, but there is little difference between PHP 5 and 6 from the point of view of this book - the Unicode chapter is maybe one to skip from that point of view, but it's a small point. Otherwise, if you fall in to the category I outlined earlier, I'd thoroughly recommend this book.

A head of the game, 26 Sep 2008
This book is a head of the game, it will teach you the fundamentals of php6 and it tells you when the code is only for php6 (and that php5 code won't work). The good thing about this book is that it teaches you how php and mysql dance together. Don't miss this book, get it while it is still new. Even if you don't know much about mysql this book has an introduction chapter to mysql. I highly recommend this book to all levels except those who are super advanced programmers.

Whoever formatted this book needs to be shot., 15 Sep 2008
This is the worst technical book I have ever attempted to read. Not because of its content, which may or may not be fine, but because of its formatting.

I don't know whether I have a newer edition to everybody else but my copy is formatted in two narrow columns per page, instead of the usual one column.

This makes listings look ridiculous. Lines of code which should fit on one line are instead splayed over 3 or 4 lines.

In one particularly bad example, the page layout went as follows:

Column 1: standard text. Then mid way down column 1 a listing starts. The listing continues to the end of column 1 then goes to the next page, where it goes down column 1 and column 2. You now have to go back two pages to pick up on the standard text, which continued on column 2 of the first page.

The content of this book may well be excellent, I couldn't really say, but its presentation is awful.

Excellent primer for PHP MySQL, 03 Sep 2008
This is an excellent starter for learning how to use PHP/ MySQL.

It goes along at a fair pace, and may be too fast if you don't have previous HTML and programming experience. The separate PHP for the World Wide Web: Visual Quickstart Guide (Visual QuickStart Guides)and MySQL: Visual Quickstart Guide (Visual QuickStart Guides)books in this series take this a bit more slowly, so if you're struggling they might be a good place to look.

Otherwise this will quickly introduce you to the concepts and use of both products. I'm still using this when I do some PHP programming, and other members of my team are also using it. It's excellent and the code is all available for download which avoids either losing/ scratching the CD or lots of typing.

The install Appendix A is worth the money alone, as I've used it to install both PHP and MySQL on Windows servers and my Mac at home. It points to easy installs on the web for the Mac.

My only gripe is that the layout is difficult to follow and it was hard to work out what the projects were actually doing, a little more explanation here might be useful.

Otherwise excellent, recommended particularly as PHP/ MySQL are free leaving you with some spare cash to buy this!

excellent communicator, 29 Aug 2008
I bought this book at the same time as 2 others on similar topics. I've hardly used the other 2. This book is well-written, with useful examples and the author has explained the sample code line-by-line... a real help when trying to amend one of his examples to produce something for your own purposes. As a teacher with some experience of HTML/ VB / ASP.NET I found this book really easy to follow.

There are a few very minor typos in the text (not surprising, given the number of pages), but if you visit the author's website there's a full list of corrections. It took me about 5 mins to go through and correct them, so it didn't really reduce the effectiveness of the book.

One feature I've really found useful... there are occasional little tables of other functions that do similar things. There isn't space in the book to describe them all in detail, but knowing the name of a fucntion makes it really easy to find out more using your favourite search engine.

Strongly recommended.

I also boughtHow to Do Everything with PHP and MySQL (How to Do Everything) (which is absolutely useless) and Mysql Crash Course (Sams Teach Yourself) (which is just about OK as a reference, but has awful page layout that makes it really hard to read). This book was far better than either of those.

best programming book i have every red, 17 Dec 2008
so simple, each chapter really dose take 10 min! can't believe the amount time i have wasted trying hack code together from web forums and write crazy php when i could just read this book years ago!

Great little book, 12 Jun 2008
I bought this book because I am a programmer and need to interact with SQL on a daily basis. However...I do not want to know the fine grain details about database management systems. This is a great little book. It is very easy to read and met my needs perfectly. The samples are all easily achievable in 10 minutes, just like it says on the cover. This makes them very easy to scan over for a refresher when you are trying to work out a solution to a problem. It does not go into great details on the more advanced topics, however it does offer a primer on some of them such as transactions and cursors. Overall I would have no hesitation in recommending this book. It won't make you a SQL pro...but it will definitely make you more comfortable in common situations using this query language.

Perfect for beginners, 19 Apr 2008
This is the best book I have seen for people learning SQL from scratch. It takes you through the basics very quickly without assuming prior knowledge. Recommended for anyone with little or no prior SQL experience. You may want a basic SQL reference book to complement it.

You are better off with online tutorials, 27 Jan 2008
I recently wrote a simple database application for a hobby use. I have previous experience with SQL, but I wanted a handy reference to remind me of the basics. Time and time again I found this book useless, and resorted to an online search. I found the organisation of the book odd. If you want to create a simple application to learn with, you have to start from the back, as he tells you how to create a database and tables at the end.

Good Basic Introduction, 10 Dec 2007
This book is a great place to start for SQL. It tells you pretty much everything you are going to need to know for basic database usage. The later chapters on more advanced features such as triggers and stored procedures aren't massively useful as they don't go into enough depth but the author does say that they are only really intended to give you an idea of what you can do, not how to do it.

This book isn't going to teach you everything you need to know about SQL but it will give you the basics quickly and painlessly.


A definite read for mysql developers, 30 Dec 2008
This book is not for beginners! This book is aimed at experienced developers who wish to take their mysql skills to the next level.

If you think you know it all, then you probably dont and this book is worth every penny! It will teach you how to choose the correct engine, optimise & bench mark your work to make sure you get the best out of your system. Its not easy and there is plenty to take in.

Excellent book - I gave it 4/5 because I felt that it went into too much details in some unimportant areas and skimmed over other areas that I thought were more important - however, this is probably just a personal preference. So might deserve closer to 4.8/5 :)

Still the de-facto reference for serious use of MySQL IMHO, 19 Dec 2008
The first edition of this book was a real find - at last a non-introductory book about MySQL that covers its use in more serious applications, the pros and cons of the variety of DB engines and coverage of other enterprise issues like backup and replication.

4yrs on after the 1st edition I was delighted to see an updated version of this book. The new book is more than double the thickness of the original, covering MySQL right up to v5.1. The good news is that the high density of detailed useful information packed into the original book has been maintained in this edition.

You really get the sense the authors know MySQL like the back of their hands, both in theory and practice and are passionate about getting their knowledge across in the book to help in your real-world applications.

This book is not for beginners learning databases, MySQL or SQL, but must surely be the de-facto reference for performance and enterprise use of MySQL.

Excellent, 08 Nov 2008
I bought this to learn from scratch PHP. It's an excellent book and has brillient examples. I had a working web site up and running within a week including security and personalisation options.

If you want a PHP based web site and have just a bit of HTML knowledge then you'll not get a better book then this to help you.

Highly reccomended primer, 25 Jul 2007
The first thing to note about this book is it's fantastic readability.

I have an object-oriented development background and wanted a book to get me started in PHP and MySQL for a large scale web site I am developing. I picked a copy of this book off the shelf in a bookshop in Cornwall got on the train and by the time I arrived in Suffolk I had devoured the first 200 or so pages.

I have found it to be an exceptionally useful book, clearly explaining many aspects of web development and how to implement them using the powerful combo of PHP & MySQL. I have already recommended it to three other people, who having no previous experience in the subject matter are starting to create useful work.

I would say that to a complete newbie it might be a second book but once you have a basic knowledge and understanding of web development and object-oriented development then this book will catapult yo to the next level and beyond.

A fantastic learning aid and a great reference tool too, 30 Apr 2006
"PHP and MySQL Web Development, 3rd Edition" is a a beast of a book, weighing in at a hefty 960 pages and covering everything from the very basics to database design & creation, web services, security and XML and beyond.

It's thoughtfully written, with many code examples and very well designed and explains everything you need to know in detail.

A fantastic learning aid and a great reference tool too. It includes a CD-ROM which contains all the code examples as well as a PDF of the entire book. It's sometimes useful to have the PDF open on the side of the screen and learn by editing and creating code in your favourite code editor at the same time.

Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in learning PHP.

Fantastic book, 23 Jan 2006
I've started my own web design company. This book really helped me when I decided I needed to learn php and mysql. Good for the beginner and still for those experienced with php. I still find it useful now. My advice is if you want to buy one book on this subject then this is the one.

Excellent, so much useful code, 17 Jun 2005
This is an extremely well written book, with an abundance of useful code that can be modified to suit all sorts of projects. I am new to PHP and MySQL and this book has served as an excellent introduction. It guides you through building all sorts of web based applications step by step and explains the code clearly. It has been the most useful and accessible computer book I have ever bought. I would have been lost without it.

A great introduction, 31 Dec 2008
As someone who has developed "shop front" websites since the late 90s, but who never needed to take it a stage further until the last 18 months, I needed a fast, accessible introduction to both PHP and MySQL in order to build a dynamic, search-driven website for my company - fast.

If you know enough HTML/CSS to knock up a brochure-style site, and can plug in a bit of Javascript, get a form to work, and put the whole thing live with a hosting company, this book will take you by the hand and get you right up to speed with the theory and practise of building your first dynamic site, including keeping it secure.

Larry Ullman employs some pretty nifty and subtle techniques in his method of teaching, and I guarantee that you'll find yourself using this as much as a reference as anything else after you've worked through it from cover to cover as advised.

While his method of printing the code in full then going through it piece by piece may irk those who bemoan the waste of paper or feel patronised by such a steady approach, I loved it because you get the chance to type the code in and try and work out what's going on for yourself before having it explained to you. This is a great way of learning and challenges you to understand what you're typing rather than just doing it by rote.

There is no object-oriented programming in here, no real depth to the MySQL/SQL part, and nothing about "mashups", web services etc, and you're definitely going to want to follow on with more learning on these themes (I also have PHP 5 Advanced by the same author, which covers the PHP parts of these topics), but there is an awful lot of learning to do before you can move on to such subjects, and this book packs it all in clearly and usefully.

By the way, PHP 6 is not released as I write this, but there is little difference between PHP 5 and 6 from the point of view of this book - the Unicode chapter is maybe one to skip from that point of view, but it's a small point. Otherwise, if you fall in to the category I outlined earlier, I'd thoroughly recommend this book.

A head of the game, 26 Sep 2008
This book is a head of the game, it will teach you the fundamentals of php6 and it tells you when the code is only for php6 (and that php5 code won't work). The good thing about this book is that it teaches you how php and mysql dance together. Don't miss this book, get it while it is still new. Even if you don't know much about mysql this book has an introduction chapter to mysql. I highly recommend this book to all levels except those who are super advanced programmers.

Whoever formatted this book needs to be shot., 15 Sep 2008
This is the worst technical book I have ever attempted to read. Not because of its content, which may or may not be fine, but because of its formatting.

I don't know whether I have a newer edition to everybody else but my copy is formatted in two narrow columns per page, instead of the usual one column.

This makes listings look ridiculous. Lines of code which should fit on one line are instead splayed over 3 or 4 lines.

In one particularly bad example, the page layout went as follows:

Column 1: standard text. Then mid way down column 1 a listing starts. The listing continues to the end of column 1 then goes to the next page, where it goes down column 1 and column 2. You now have to go back two pages to pick up on the standard text, which continued on column 2 of the first page.

The content of this book may well be excellent, I couldn't really say, but its presentation is awful.

Excellent primer for PHP MySQL, 03 Sep 2008
This is an excellent starter for learning how to use PHP/ MySQL.

It goes along at a fair pace, and may be too fast if you don't have previous HTML and programming experience. The separate PHP for the World Wide Web: Visual Quickstart Guide (Visual QuickStart Guides)and MySQL: Visual Quickstart Guide (Visual QuickStart Guides)books in this series take this a bit more slowly, so if you're struggling they might be a good place to look.

Otherwise this will quickly introduce you to the concepts and use of both products. I'm still using this when I do some PHP programming, and other members of my team are also using it. It's excellent and the code is all available for download which avoids either losing/ scratching the CD or lots of typing.

The install Appendix A is worth the money alone, as I've used it to install both PHP and MySQL on Windows servers and my Mac at home. It points to easy installs on the web for the Mac.

My only gripe is that the layout is difficult to follow and it was hard to work out what the projects were actually doing, a little more explanation here might be useful.

Otherwise excellent, recommended particularly as PHP/ MySQL are free leaving you with some spare cash to buy this!

excellent communicator, 29 Aug 2008
I bought this book at the same time as 2 others on similar topics. I've hardly used the other 2. This book is well-written, with useful examples and the author has explained the sample code line-by-line... a real help when trying to amend one of his examples to produce something for your own purposes. As a teacher with some experience of HTML/ VB / ASP.NET I found this book really easy to follow.

There are a few very minor typos in the text (not surprising, given the number of pages), but if you visit the author's website there's a full list of corrections. It took me about 5 mins to go through and correct them, so it didn't really reduce the effectiveness of the book.

One feature I've really found useful... there are occasional little tables of other functions that do similar things. There isn't space in the book to describe them all in detail, but knowing the name of a fucntion makes it really easy to find out more using your favourite search engine.

Strongly recommended.

I also boughtHow to Do Everything with PHP and MySQL (How to Do Everything) (which is absolutely useless) and Mysql Crash Course (Sams Teach Yourself) (which is just about OK as a reference, but has awful page layout that makes it really hard to read). This book was far better than either of those.

best programming book i have every red, 17 Dec 2008
so simple, each chapter really dose take 10 min! can't believe the amount time i have wasted trying hack code together from web forums and write crazy php when i could just read this book years ago!

Great little book, 12 Jun 2008
I bought this book because I am a programmer and need to interact with SQL on a daily basis. However...I do not want to know the fine grain details about database management systems. This is a great little book. It is very easy to read and met my needs perfectly. The samples are all easily achievable in 10 minutes, just like it says on the cover. This makes them very easy to scan over for a refresher when you are trying to work out a solution to a problem. It does not go into great details on the more advanced topics, however it does offer a primer on some of them such as transactions and cursors. Overall I would have no hesitation in recommending this book. It won't make you a SQL pro...but it will definitely make you more comfortable in common situations using this query language.

Perfect for beginners, 19 Apr 2008
This is the best book I have seen for people learning SQL from scratch. It takes you through the basics very quickly without assuming prior knowledge. Recommended for anyone with little or no prior SQL experience. You may want a basic SQL reference book to complement it.

You are better off with online tutorials, 27 Jan 2008
I recently wrote a simple database application for a hobby use. I have previous experience with SQL, but I wanted a handy reference to remind me of the basics. Time and time again I found this book useless, and resorted to an online search. I found the organisation of the book odd. If you want to create a simple application to learn with, you have to start from the back, as he tells you how to create a database and tables at the end.

Good Basic Introduction, 10 Dec 2007
This book is a great place to start for SQL. It tells you pretty much everything you are going to need to know for basic database usage. The later chapters on more advanced features such as triggers and stored procedures aren't massively useful as they don't go into enough depth but the author does say that they are only really intended to give you an idea of what you can do, not how to do it.

This book isn't going to teach you everything you need to know about SQL but it will give you the basics quickly and painlessly.


A definite read for mysql developers, 30 Dec 2008
This book is not for beginners! This book is aimed at experienced developers who wish to take their mysql skills to the next level.

If you think you know it all, then you probably dont and this book is worth every penny! It will teach you how to choose the correct engine, optimise & bench mark your work to make sure you get the best out of your system. Its not easy and there is plenty to take in.

Excellent book - I gave it 4/5 because I felt that it went into too much details in some unimportant areas and skimmed over other areas that I thought were more important - however, this is probably just a personal preference. So might deserve closer to 4.8/5 :)

Still the de-facto reference for serious use of MySQL IMHO, 19 Dec 2008
The first edition of this book was a real find - at last a non-introductory book about MySQL that covers its use in more serious applications, the pros and cons of the variety of DB engines and coverage of other enterprise issues like backup and replication.

4yrs on after the 1st edition I was delighted to see an updated version of this book. The new book is more than double the thickness of the original, covering MySQL right up to v5.1. The good news is that the high density of detailed useful information packed into the original book has been maintained in this edition.

You really get the sense the authors know MySQL like the back of their hands, both in theory and practice and are passionate about getting their knowledge across in the book to help in your real-world applications.

This book is not for beginners learning databases, MySQL or SQL, but must surely be the de-facto reference for performance and enterprise use of MySQL.

If you need Linq - you nee this book, 13 May 2008
If you want to learn Linq, whether its data stored in a database, in XML files, DataSets or just in-memory objects this is the book for you.

I found it so easy to understand, and really comprehend. There are lots of examples, but not too many. After reading the first few chapters you become comfortable with the concept and syntax of the new language extensions.

The authors style had just the right combination of light humor and serious programming. He seems able to express complicated issues with the greatest of ease, and obviously has enoumous knowledge on the subject.

If that was not enough, there are forums avalable where you can raise queries and doubts and the author will do his best to accomodate you, again with a nice and easy flowing style.

The book is a 'must have' to any serious Linq programmer (or want-to-be Linq programmer!) and will certainly occupy a prominent place on my bookshelf.

Highly recommended!

Regards,
Martin.

Good job, 28 Apr 2008
Very good book, I have read entirely in few days. The book goes beyond basical topics related to Linq and Linq2XXX, it also talk about different ways to use linq and how it could be adopdted either in RAD or full layered scenarios.
Good code samples included.

A must read on LINQ, 25 Feb 2008
This book is the fruit of a collaborative work. In a time of globalization, where ideas know no frontiers, this is a refreshing take on a hot topic like LINQ.

We have here three well known experts in their fields coming together to produce an excellent text book on LINQ.
The introduction is an appetizer for what comes next.

LINQ is not a language you will fall in love with at first sight. It demands that you get to know it but when you do you're hooked.

In this book we get a good summary outlining why we can't live without LINQ anymore. Also, a nice touch from the authors is that the code is written in both C# and VB.NET. It's a pity that this is not continued throughout the book. However, according to the writers, all the samples used in the book are available for download in both languages. So guys you are forgiven!

Because LINQ introduces new features, a full chapter is dedicated to C# 3.0 and VB.NET 9.0 enhancements. This chapter is for me the weakest part of the book. Even if LINQ in action is not intended for beginners, I would suggest to the readers to skip this section and come back to it later, because it will give intermediate developers the idea that LINK is only comprehendible by experts. It is too complicated too early in the book.

The rest of the book is cleverly divided into roughly three parts: LINQ for objects, LINQ for XML and LINQ for SQL. It is a very good idea indeed to have pushed the SQL part further down, after all, LINQ is much more than a mere language for relational databases. It is an advanced technology with many capabilities. For example, Object paradigm is at the heart of LINQ and this is well demonstrated throughout the book.
To conclude I would warmly recommend this book but for intermediate developers not for real beginners because some of the explanations introduced by the authors are not for the faint hearted!
I also give credit to the authors for creating from a blank canvas something as colorful as this book about LINQ. A hard challenge when you consider that nobody has really fully embraced the concept in a commercial application to date.

It's also a first book for Fabrice Marguerie, who I know well by his blog. Fabrice is a strong minded person, an expert in Object Relational Mapping, which gives you even more reason to purchase this book.

Ace your preparation for the skills measured by MCTS Exam70-431—and on the job. Work at your own pace through a seriesof lessons and reviews that fully cover each exam objective. Thenreinforce what you’ve learned by applying your knowled

Excellent, 08 Nov 2008
I bought this to learn from scratch PHP. It's an excellent book and has brillient examples. I had a working web site up and running within a week including security and personalisation options.

If you want a PHP based web site and have just a bit of HTML knowledge then you'll not get a better book then this to help you.

Highly reccomended primer, 25 Jul 2007
The first thing to note about this book is it's fantastic readability.

I have an object-oriented development background and wanted a book to get me started in PHP and MySQL for a large scale web site I am developing. I picked a copy of this book off the shelf in a bookshop in Cornwall got on the train and by the time I arrived in Suffolk I had devoured the first 200 or so pages.

I have found it to be an exceptionally useful book, clearly explaining many aspects of web development and how to implement them using the powerful combo of PHP & MySQL. I have already recommended it to three other people, who having no previous experience in the subject matter are starting to create useful work.

I would say that to a complete newbie it might be a second book but once you have a basic knowledge and understanding of web development and object-oriented development then this book will catapult yo to the next level and beyond.

A fantastic learning aid and a great reference tool too, 30 Apr 2006
"PHP and MySQL Web Development, 3rd Edition" is a a beast of a book, weighing in at a hefty 960 pages and covering everything from the very basics to database design & creation, web services, security and XML and beyond.

It's thoughtfully written, with many code examples and very well designed and explains everything you need to know in detail.

A fantastic learning aid and a great reference tool too. It includes a CD-ROM which contains all the code examples as well as a PDF of the entire book. It's sometimes useful to have the PDF open on the side of the screen and learn by editing and creating code in your favourite code editor at the same time.

Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in learning PHP.

Fantastic book, 23 Jan 2006
I've started my own web design company. This book really helped me when I decided I needed to learn php and mysql. Good for the beginner and still for those experienced with php. I still find it useful now. My advice is if you want to buy one book on this subject then this is the one.

Excellent, so much useful code, 17 Jun 2005
This is an extremely well written book, with an abundance of useful code that can be modified to suit all sorts of projects. I am new to PHP and MySQL and this book has served as an excellent introduction. It guides you through building all sorts of web based applications step by step and explains the code clearly. It has been the most useful and accessible computer book I have ever bought. I would have been lost without it.

A great introduction, 31 Dec 2008
As someone who has developed "shop front" websites since the late 90s, but who never needed to take it a stage further until the last 18 months, I needed a fast, accessible introduction to both PHP and MySQL in order to build a dynamic, search-driven website for my company - fast.

If you know enough HTML/CSS to knock up a brochure-style site, and can plug in a bit of Javascript, get a form to work, and put the whole thing live with a hosting company, this book will take you by the hand and get you right up to speed with the theory and practise of building your first dynamic site, including keeping it secure.

Larry Ullman employs some pretty nifty and subtle techniques in his method of teaching, and I guarantee that you'll find yourself using this as much as a reference as anything else after you've worked through it from cover to cover as advised.

While his method of printing the code in full then going through it piece by piece may irk those who bemoan the waste of paper or feel patronised by such a steady approach, I loved it because you get the chance to type the code in and try and work out what's going on for yourself before having it explained to you. This is a great way of learning and challenges you to understand what you're typing rather than just doing it by rote.

There is no object-oriented programming in here, no real depth to the MySQL/SQL part, and nothing about "mashups", web services etc, and you're definitely going to want to follow on with more learning on these themes (I also have PHP 5 Advanced by the same author, which covers the PHP parts of these topics), but there is an awful lot of learning to do before you can move on to such subjects, and this book packs it all in clearly and usefully.

By the way, PHP 6 is not released as I write this, but there is little difference between PHP 5 and 6 from the point of view of this book - the Unicode chapter is maybe one to skip from that point of view, but it's a small point. Otherwise, if you fall in to the category I outlined earlier, I'd thoroughly recommend this book.

A head of the game, 26 Sep 2008
This book is a head of the game, it will teach you the fundamentals of php6 and it tells you when the code is only for php6 (and that php5 code won't work). The good thing about this book is that it teaches you how php and mysql dance together. Don't miss this book, get it while it is still new. Even if you don't know much about mysql this book has an introduction chapter to mysql. I highly recommend this book to all levels except those who are super advanced programmers.

Whoever formatted this book needs to be shot., 15 Sep 2008
This is the worst technical book I have ever attempted to read. Not because of its content, which may or may not be fine, but because of its formatting.

I don't know whether I have a newer edition to everybody else but my copy is formatted in two narrow columns per page, instead of the usual one column.

This makes listings look ridiculous. Lines of code which should fit on one line are instead splayed over 3 or 4 lines.

In one particularly bad example, the page layout went as follows:

Column 1: standard text. Then mid way down column 1 a listing starts. The listing continues to the end of column 1 then goes to the next page, where it goes down column 1 and column 2. You now have to go back two pages to pick up on the standard text, which continued on column 2 of the first page.

The content of this book may well be excellent, I couldn't really say, but its presentation is awful.

Excellent primer for PHP MySQL, 03 Sep 2008
This is an excellent starter for learning how to use PHP/ MySQL.

It goes along at a fair pace, and may be too fast if you don't have previous HTML and programming experience. The separate PHP for the World Wide Web: Visual Quickstart Guide (Visual QuickStart Guides)and MySQL: Visual Quickstart Guide (Visual QuickStart Guides)books in this series take this a bit more slowly, so if you're struggling they might be a good place to look.

Otherwise this will quickly introduce you to the concepts and use of both products. I'm still using this when I do some PHP programming, and other members of my team are also using it. It's excellent and the code is all available for download which avoids either losing/ scratching the CD or lots of typing.

The install Appendix A is worth the money alone, as I've used it to install both PHP and MySQL on Windows servers and my Mac at home. It points to easy installs on the web for the Mac.

My only gripe is that the layout is difficult to follow and it was hard to work out what the projects were actually doing, a little more explanation here might be useful.

Otherwise excellent, recommended particularly as PHP/ MySQL are free leaving you with some spare cash to buy this!

excellent communicator, 29 Aug 2008
I bought this book at the same time as 2 others on similar topics. I've hardly used the other 2. This book is well-written, with useful examples and the author has explained the sample code line-by-line... a real help when trying to amend one of his examples to produce something for your own purposes. As a teacher with some experience of HTML/ VB / ASP.NET I found this book really easy to follow.

There are a few very minor typos in the text (not surprising, given the number of pages), but if you visit the author's website there's a full list of corrections. It took me about 5 mins to go through and correct them, so it didn't really reduce the effectiveness of the book.

One feature I've really found useful... there are occasional little tables of other functions that do similar things. There isn't space in the book to describe them all in detail, but knowing the name of a fucntion makes it really easy to find out more using your favourite search engine.

Strongly recommended.

I also boughtHow to Do Everything with PHP and MySQL (How to Do Everything) (which is absolutely useless) and Mysql Crash Course (Sams Teach Yourself) (which is just about OK as a reference, but has awful page layout that makes it really hard to read). This book was far better than either of those.

best programming book i have every red, 17 Dec 2008
so simple, each chapter really dose take 10 min! can't believe the amount time i have wasted trying hack code together from web forums and write crazy php when i could just read this book years ago!

Great little book, 12 Jun 2008
I bought this book because I am a programmer and need to interact with SQL on a daily basis. However...I do not want to know the fine grain details about database management systems. This is a great little book. It is very easy to read and met my needs perfectly. The samples are all easily achievable in 10 minutes, just like it says on the cover. This makes them very easy to scan over for a refresher when you are trying to work out a solution to a problem. It does not go into great details on the more advanced topics, however it does offer a primer on some of them such as transactions and cursors. Overall I would have no hesitation in recommending this book. It won't make you a SQL pro...but it will definitely make you more comfortable in common situations using this query language.

Perfect for beginners, 19 Apr 2008
This is the best book I have seen for people learning SQL from scratch. It takes you through the basics very quickly without assuming prior knowledge. Recommended for anyone with little or no prior SQL experience. You may want a basic SQL reference book to complement it.

You are better off with online tutorials, 27 Jan 2008
I recently wrote a simple database application for a hobby use. I have previous experience with SQL, but I wanted a handy reference to remind me of the basics. Time and time again I found this book useless, and resorted to an online search. I found the organisation of the book odd. If you want to create a simple application to learn with, you have to start from the back, as he tells you how to create a database and tables at the end.

Good Basic Introduction, 10 Dec 2007
This book is a great place to start for SQL. It tells you pretty much everything you are going to need to know for basic database usage. The later chapters on more advanced features such as triggers and stored procedures aren't massively useful as they don't go into enough depth but the author does say that they are only really intended to give you an idea of what you can do, not how to do it.

This book isn't going to teach you everything you need to know about SQL but it will give you the basics quickly and painlessly.


A definite read for mysql developers, 30 Dec 2008
This book is not for beginners! This book is aimed at experienced developers who wish to take their mysql skills to the next level.

If you think you know it all, then you probably dont and this book is worth every penny! It will teach you how to choose the correct engine, optimise & bench mark your work to make sure you get the best out of your system. Its not easy and there is plenty to take in.

Excellent book - I gave it 4/5 because I felt that it went into too much details in some unimportant areas and skimmed over other areas that I thought were more important - however, this is probably just a personal preference. So might deserve closer to 4.8/5 :)

Still the de-facto reference for serious use of MySQL IMHO, 19 Dec 2008
The first edition of this book was a real find - at last a non-introductory book about MySQL that covers its use in more serious applications, the pros and cons of the variety of DB engines and coverage of other enterprise issues like backup and replication.

4yrs on after the 1st edition I was delighted to see an updated version of this book. The new book is more than double the thickness of the original, covering MySQL right up to v5.1. The good news is that the high density of detailed useful information packed into the original book has been maintained in this edition.

You really get the sense the authors know MySQL like the back of their hands, both in theory and practice and are passionate about getting their knowledge across in the book to help in your real-world applications.

This book is not for beginners learning databases, MySQL or SQL, but must surely be the de-facto reference for performance and enterprise use of MySQL.

If you need Linq - you nee this book, 13 May 2008
If you want to learn Linq, whether its data stored in a database, in XML files, DataSets or just in-memory objects this is the book for you.

I found it so easy to understand, and really comprehend. There are lots of examples, but not too many. After reading the first few chapters you become comfortable with the concept and syntax of the new language extensions.

The authors style had just the right combination of light humor and serious programming. He seems able to express complicated issues with the greatest of ease, and obviously has enoumous knowledge on the subject.

If that was not enough, there are forums avalable where you can raise queries and doubts and the author will do his best to accomodate you, again with a nice and easy flowing style.

The book is a 'must have' to any serious Linq programmer (or want-to-be Linq programmer!) and will certainly occupy a prominent place on my bookshelf.

Highly recommended!

Regards,
Martin.

Good job, 28 Apr 2008
Very good book, I have read entirely in few days. The book goes beyond basical topics related to Linq and Linq2XXX, it also talk about different ways to use linq and how it could be adopdted either in RAD or full layered scenarios.
Good code samples included.

A must read on LINQ, 25 Feb 2008
This book is the fruit of a collaborative work. In a time of globalization, where ideas know no frontiers, this is a refreshing take on a hot topic like LINQ.

We have here three well known experts in their fields coming together to produce an excellent text book on LINQ.
The introduction is an appetizer for what comes next.

LINQ is not a language you will fall in love with at first sight. It demands that you get to know it but when you do you're hooked.

In this book we get a good summary outlining why we can't live without LINQ anymore. Also, a nice touch from the authors is that the code is written in both C# and VB.NET. It's a pity that this is not continued throughout the book. However, according to the writers, all the samples used in the book are available for download in both languages. So guys you are forgiven!

Because LINQ introduces new features, a full chapter is dedicated to C# 3.0 and VB.NET 9.0 enhancements. This chapter is for me the weakest part of the book. Even if LINQ in action is not intended for beginners, I would suggest to the readers to skip this section and come back to it later, because it will give intermediate developers the idea that LINK is only comprehendible by experts. It is too complicated too early in the book.

The rest of the book is cleverly divided into roughly three parts: LINQ for objects, LINQ for XML and LINQ for SQL. It is a very good idea indeed to have pushed the SQL part further down, after all, LINQ is much more than a mere language for relational databases. It is an advanced technology with many capabilities. For example, Object paradigm is at the heart of LINQ and this is well demonstrated throughout the book.
To conclude I would warmly recommend this book but for intermediate developers not for real beginners because some of the explanations introduced by the authors are not for the faint hearted!
I also give credit to the authors for creating from a blank canvas something as colorful as this book about LINQ. A hard challenge when you consider that nobody has really fully embraced the concept in a commercial application to date.

It's also a first book for Fabrice Marguerie, who I know well by his blog. Fabrice is a strong minded person, an expert in Object Relational Mapping, which gives you even more reason to purchase this book.


Not so easy to follow, 17 Sep 2008
I found this book is quite hard to follow. This is my very first SQL server book, and I was lost just in the first couple of the lessons. The author probably expected the readers to have a good knowledge about the system already, so there are not enough screen shots to guide you.

Plain English (not), 21 Aug 2008
This book is very dry and hard to read, some of the text is pure gobbledygook. It also assumes you have knowledge of some of the subjects it teaches. This is supposed to be a training course!

Is summary I wish I had spent my money on something else.


Not Impressed!!, 03 Mar 2008
Honestly - utter rubbish!!
There is several times ive read chapters and not known what the hell they are talking about. They do alot of 'Then all you have to do is close this' without actually telling you what the hell THIS is or wher to find it!!!!I'm already a dba on SQL Server 2000 so i though this would be a good top up!!! Ive gone back to googling the chapeters and reading up somewhere(anywhere) else....

It's an IT textbook, 29 Jan 2008
This is my first Microsoft Press textbook/training kit for an exam - and this is exactly what is focuses on - getting you through the exam.

It's very dry (and rather boring), and I much preferred reading the Wrox books Beginning SQL Server 2005 Administration, and then Professional SQL Server 2005 Administration (which appear to be comprehensive as well as being more readable).

Still, this book comes with a CD for 180 trial licence for SQL Server 2005 - and a Measure Up CD with exam simulation software.



Good training guide, poor as a reference book, 11 Sep 2006
These books have a tough expectation list as people want them to provide all they need to know to get through the associated examination and be a first class refernce book. The five-star rating applies to the former of these requirements as this is the market the book is aimed at. Having sat the examination I can say that all of the questions were answered in the book - and from previous exposure to these books that is not normally the case.

As a reference book it fails, simply because it is not intended as such and more obviously because to cover all the topics adequately it would have to be five times as long. That said, the section on Service Broker is way too vague - the knowledge it imparts will get you through the examination but will leave you floundering in the real world.

Use the book to pass the exam and to introduce you to the new technologies - look elsewhere for more in-depth practical (i.e real world) material.

[...]

Excellent, 08 Nov 2008
I bought this to learn from scratch PHP. It's an excellent book and has brillient examples. I had a working web site up and running within a week including security and personalisation options.

If you want a PHP based web site and have just a bit of HTML knowledge then you'll not get a better book then this to help you.

Highly reccomended primer, 25 Jul 2007
The first thing to note about this book is it's fantastic readability.

I have an object-oriented development background and wanted a book to get me started in PHP and MySQL for a large scale web site I am developing. I picked a copy of this book off the shelf in a bookshop in Cornwall got on the train and by the time I arrived in Suffolk I had devoured the first 200 or so pages.

I have found it to be an exceptionally useful book, clearly explaining many aspects of web development and how to implement them using the powerful combo of PHP & MySQL. I have already recommended it to three other people, who having no previous experience in the subject matter are starting to create useful work.

I would say that to a complete newbie it might be a second book but once you have a basic knowledge and understanding of web development and object-oriented development then this book will catapult yo to the next level and beyond.

A fantastic learning aid and a great reference tool too, 30 Apr 2006
"PHP and MySQL Web Development, 3rd Edition" is a a beast of a book, weighing in at a hefty 960 pages and covering everything from the very basics to database design & creation, web services, security and XML and beyond.

It's thoughtfully written, with many code examples and very well designed and explains everything you need to know in detail.

A fantastic learning aid and a great reference tool too. It includes a CD-ROM which contains all the code examples as well as a PDF of the entire book. It's sometimes useful to have the PDF open on the side of the screen and learn by editing and creating code in your favourite code editor at the same time.

Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in learning PHP.

Fantastic book, 23 Jan 2006
I've started my own web design company. This book really helped me when I decided I needed to learn php and mysql. Good for the beginner and still for those experienced with php. I still find it useful now. My advice is if you want to buy one book on this subject then this is the one.

Excellent, so much useful code, 17 Jun 2005
This is an extremely well written book, with an abundance of useful code that can be modified to suit all sorts of projects. I am new to PHP and MySQL and this book has served as an excellent introduction. It guides you through building all sorts of web based applications step by step and explains the code clearly. It has been the most useful and accessible computer book I have ever bought. I would have been lost without it.

A great introduction, 31 Dec 2008
As someone who has developed "shop front" websites since the late 90s, but who never needed to take it a stage further until the last 18 months, I needed a fast, accessible introduction to both PHP and MySQL in order to build a dynamic, search-driven website for my company - fast.

If you know enough HTML/CSS to knock up a brochure-style site, and can plug in a bit of Javascript, get a form to work, and put the whole thing live with a hosting company, this book will take you by the hand and get you right up to speed with the theory and practise of building your first dynamic site, including keeping it secure.

Larry Ullman employs some pretty nifty and subtle techniques in his method of teaching, and I guarantee that you'll find yourself using this as much as a reference as anything else after you've worked through it from cover to cover as advised.

While his method of printing the code in full then going through it piece by piece may irk those who bemoan the waste of paper or feel patronised by such a steady approach, I loved it because you get the chance to type the code in and try and work out what's going on for yourself before having it explained to you. This is a great way of learning and challenges you to understand what you're typing rather than just doing it by rote.

There is no object-oriented programming in here, no real depth to the MySQL/SQL part, and nothing about "mashups", web services etc, and you're definitely going to want to follow on with more learning on these themes (I also have PHP 5 Advanced by the same author, which covers the PHP parts of these topics), but there is an awful lot of learning to do before you can move on to such subjects, and this book packs it all in clearly and usefully.

By the way, PHP 6 is not released as I write this, but there is little difference between PHP 5 and 6 from the point of view of this book - the Unicode chapter is maybe one to skip from that point of view, but it's a small point. Otherwise, if you fall in to the category I outlined earlier, I'd thoroughly recommend this book.

A head of the game, 26 Sep 2008
This book is a head of the game, it will teach you the fundamentals of php6 and it tells you when the code is only for php6 (and that php5 code won't work). The good thing about this book is that it teaches you how php and mysql dance together. Don't miss this book, get it while it is still new. Even if you don't know much about mysql this book has an introduction chapter to mysql. I highly recommend this book to all levels except those who are super advanced programmers.

Whoever formatted this book needs to be shot., 15 Sep 2008
This is the worst technical book I have ever attempted to read. Not because of its content, which may or may not be fine, but because of its formatting.

I don't know whether I have a newer edition to everybody else but my copy is formatted in two narrow columns per page, instead of the usual one column.

This makes listings look ridiculous. Lines of code which should fit on one line are instead splayed over 3 or 4 lines.

In one particularly bad example, the page layout went as follows:

Column 1: standard text. Then mid way down column 1 a listing starts. The listing continues to the end of column 1 then goes to the next page, where it goes down column 1 and column 2. You now have to go back two pages to pick up on the standard text, which continued on column 2 of the first page.

The content of this book may well be excellent, I couldn't really say, but its presentation is awful.

Excellent primer for PHP MySQL, 03 Sep 2008
This is an excellent starter for learning how to use PHP/ MySQL.

It goes along at a fair pace, and may be too fast if you don't have previous HTML and programming experience. The separate PHP for the World Wide Web: Visual Quickstart Guide (Visual QuickStart Guides)and MySQL: Visual Quickstart Guide (Visual QuickStart Guides)books in this series take this a bit more slowly, so if you're struggling they might be a good place to look.

Otherwise this will quickly introduce you to the concepts and use of both products. I'm still using this when I do some PHP programming, and other members of my team are also using it. It's excellent and the code is all available for download which avoids either losing/ scratching the CD or lots of typing.

The install Appendix A is worth the money alone, as I've used it to install both PHP and MySQL on Windows servers and my Mac at home. It points to easy installs on the web for the Mac.

My only gripe is that the layout is difficult to follow and it was hard to work out what the projects were actually doing, a little more explanation here might be useful.

Otherwise excellent, recommended particularly as PHP/ MySQL are free leaving you with some spare cash to buy this!

excellent communicator, 29 Aug 2008
I bought this book at the same time as 2 others on similar topics. I've hardly used the other 2. This book is well-written, with useful examples and the author has explained the sample code line-by-line... a real help when trying to amend one of his examples to produce something for your own purposes. As a teacher with some experience of HTML/ VB / ASP.NET I found this book really easy to follow.

There are a few very minor typos in the text (not surprising, given the number of pages), but if you visit the author's website there's a full list of corrections. It took me about 5 mins to go through and correct them, so it didn't really reduce the effectiveness of the book.

One feature I've really found useful... there are occasional little tables of other functions that do similar things. There isn't space in the book to describe them all in detail, but knowing the name of a fucntion makes it really easy to find out more using your favourite search engine.

Strongly recommended.

I also boughtHow to Do Everything with PHP and MySQL (How to Do Everything) (which is absolutely useless) and Mysql Crash Course (Sams Teach Yourself) (which is just about OK as a reference, but has awful page layout that makes it really hard to read). This book was far better than either of those.

best programming book i have every red, 17 Dec 2008
so simple, each chapter really dose take 10 min! can't believe the amount time i have wasted trying hack code together from web forums and write crazy php when i could just read this book years ago!

Great little book, 12 Jun 2008
I bought this book because I am a programmer and need to interact with SQL on a daily basis. However...I do not want to know the fine grain details about database management systems. This is a great little book. It is very easy to read and met my needs perfectly. The samples are all easily achievable in 10 minutes, just like it says on the cover. This makes them very easy to scan over for a refresher when you are trying to work out a solution to a problem. It does not go into great details on the more advanced topics, however it does offer a primer on some of them such as transactions and cursors. Overall I would have no hesitation in recommending this book. It won't make you a SQL pro...but it will definitely make you more comfortable in common situations using this query language.

Perfect for beginners, 19 Apr 2008
This is the best book I have seen for people learning SQL from scratch. It takes you through the basics very quickly without assuming prior knowledge. Recommended for anyone with little or no prior SQL experience. You may want a basic SQL reference book to complement it.

You are better off with online tutorials, 27 Jan 2008
I recently wrote a simple database application for a hobby use. I have previous experience with SQL, but I wanted a handy reference to remind me of the basics. Time and time again I found this book useless, and resorted to an online search. I found the organisation of the book odd. If you want to create a simple application to learn with, you have to start from the back, as he tells you how to create a database and tables at the end.

Good Basic Introduction, 10 Dec 2007
This book is a great place to start for SQL. It tells you pretty much everything you are going to need to know for basic database usage. The later chapters on more advanced features such as triggers and stored procedures aren't massively useful as they don't go into enough depth but the author does say that they are only really intended to give you an idea of what you can do, not how to do it.

This book isn't going to teach you everything you need to know about SQL but it will give you the basics quickly and painlessly.


A definite read for mysql developers, 30 Dec 2008
This book is not for beginners! This book is aimed at experienced developers who wish to take their mysql skills to the next level.

If you think you know it all, then you probably dont and this book is worth every penny! It will teach you how to choose the correct engine, optimise & bench mark your work to make sure you get the best out of your system. Its not easy and there is plenty to take in.

Excellent book - I gave it 4/5 because I felt that it went into too much details in some unimportant areas and skimmed over other areas that I thought were more important - however, this is probably just a personal preference. So might deserve closer to 4.8/5 :)

Still the de-facto reference for serious use of MySQL IMHO, 19 Dec 2008
The first edition of this book was a real find - at last a non-introductory book about MySQL that covers its use in more serious applications, the pros and cons of the variety of DB engines and coverage of other enterprise issues like backup and replication.

4yrs on after the 1st edition I was delighted to see an updated version of this book. The new book is more than double the thickness of the original, covering MySQL right up to v5.1. The good news is that the high density of detailed useful information packed into the original book has been maintained in this edition.

You really get the sense the authors know MySQL like the back of their hands, both in theory and practice and are passionate about getting their knowledge across in the book to help in your real-world applications.

This book is not for beginners learning databases, MySQL or SQL, but must surely be the de-facto reference for performance and enterprise use of MySQL.

If you need Linq - you nee this book, 13 May 2008
If you want to learn Linq, whether its data stored in a database, in XML files, DataSets or just in-memory objects this is the book for you.

I found it so easy to understand, and really comprehend. There are lots of examples, but not too many. After reading the first few chapters you become comfortable with the concept and syntax of the new language extensions.

The authors style had just the right combination of light humor and serious programming. He seems able to express complicated issues with the greatest of ease, and obviously has enoumous knowledge on the subject.

If that was not enough, there are forums avalable where you can raise queries and doubts and the author will do his best to accomodate you, again with a nice and easy flowing style.

The book is a 'must have' to any serious Linq programmer (or want-to-be Linq programmer!) and will certainly occupy a prominent place on my bookshelf.

Highly recommended!

Regards,
Martin.

Good job, 28 Apr 2008
Very good book, I have read entirely in few days. The book goes beyond basical topics related to Linq and Linq2XXX, it also talk about different ways to use linq and how it could be adopdted either in RAD or full layered scenarios.